Hacker News: wussboy

New comment by wussboy in "EU to crack down on TikTok, Instagram's 'addictive design' targeting kids"

wussboy — Tue, 12 May 2026 14:17:55 +0000

I hope you're right but I think you're dead wrong. Social media has not only affected the mental health of millions of people negatively, it has brought about social, political and economic harms that will affect the planet for generations.

New comment by wussboy in "Poland is now among the 20 largest economies"

wussboy — Fri, 08 May 2026 13:58:55 +0000

Maybe. But I don't think you will find any of those things without strong democracy.

New comment by wussboy in "AI slop is killing online communities"

wussboy — Fri, 08 May 2026 00:49:00 +0000

My hope as well. If AI doesn't kill us all, the real world, with all its dirt and grime and beauty, will become the only thing that can be trusted

New comment by wussboy in "StarFighter 16-Inch"

wussboy — Wed, 06 May 2026 03:03:04 +0000

What a boutique criticism

New comment by wussboy in "I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it"

wussboy — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:06:41 +0000

I don't need to be able to cure cancer to tell you that cancer is terrible.

New comment by wussboy in "Trump fires NSF's oversight board"

wussboy — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:31:59 +0000

Here's hoping that democracy continues...

New comment by wussboy in "Stop trying to engineer your way out of listening to people"

wussboy — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:18:16 +0000

When I lost my faith I was frequently engaged in debate by my friends and family. I was eager and willing to try and argue for the logical and moral necessity of atheism. It was never productive.

Eventually, when someone would ask me to engage in debate I would start by saying, "Is there anything you can think of that I could say that would possible make you lose your faith or decide I was right?"

The answer to this question was always "no, it is impossible for me to lose my faith". My next question was always "then what would be the point of debating?"

This was also never productive. But it was efficient.

New comment by wussboy in "Phone-free bars and restaurants on the rise across the U.S."

wussboy — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 17:25:56 +0000

I like this idea. You can use your phone but you have to go outside to do it.

New comment by wussboy in "Phone-free bars and restaurants on the rise across the U.S."

wussboy — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 17:24:56 +0000

Humans used to get on ships and sail away, perhaps never to be heard from again. We can absolutely survive several minutes of confusion around eating arrangements. "Text me when you get there." Let's all just calm down and live with a little uncertainty

New comment by wussboy in "Is BGP safe yet?"

wussboy — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 14:04:26 +0000

Why hasn't this happened?

New comment by wussboy in "Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act"

wussboy — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 14:24:53 +0000

Your kids not walking there has everything to do with street design. Check out Not Just Bikes on YouTube for why and how.

New comment by wussboy in "The emergence of print-on-demand Amazon paperback books"

wussboy — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:39:49 +0000

Not only am I sure there isn't one, I'm sure there will never be one. That might reduce profits for Amazon slightly.

New comment by wussboy in "The Appalling Stupidity of Spotify's AI DJ"

wussboy — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:05:19 +0000

The blend of classical and techno must come from the techno side. I remember many years ago listening to CBC Radio as they breathlessly talked about some avant garde classical piece that purported to blend classical and techno. It was a mid tier modern classical composition with occasional cheap synth sound effects. And this was ten years after Portishead released their entire first album, recorded with an orchestra, or all the work that Massive attack was doing.

New comment by wussboy in "I was interviewed by an AI bot for a job"

wussboy — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 22:11:42 +0000

I have not addressed it in the call, expecting the interviewee to just say "no I'm not!" I have asked my HR department to state clearly that any usage of AI during an interview is an instant fail, and I think I'm going to start my future interviews with the same.

I'm now leaning heavily on recommendations from existing resources as my preferred interview strategy

New comment by wussboy in "US private credit defaults hit record 9.2% in 2025, Fitch says"

wussboy — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:43:49 +0000

I would argue the second instance (pandemic) was much more nearly what a good government should do than the first one

New comment by wussboy in "I was interviewed by an AI bot for a job"

wussboy — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:21:42 +0000

As an interviewer who does all his interviews himself, I experience this already. I'll ask questions and candidates will answer them reading from chat gpt output. It's very frustrating and clearly the start of an arms race that must end in requiring face to face interviews and on site employment

New comment by wussboy in "US blindsides states with surprise settlement in Live Nation/Ticketmaster trial"

wussboy — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 13:19:12 +0000

Any solution that requires a bunch of independent actors to go against their best interests will certainly fail. You need to find another option

New comment by wussboy in "Bus stop balancing is fast, cheap, and effective"

wussboy — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 15:14:46 +0000

Nobody claimed one size fits all. Nobody claimed you shouldn't be able to use a vehicle outside of the city.

New comment by wussboy in "Bus stop balancing is fast, cheap, and effective"

wussboy — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 15:13:53 +0000

Good lord it's like you've taken everything that's actually true and claimed the opposite.

New comment by wussboy in "How to talk to anyone and why you should"

wussboy — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 14:22:43 +0000

If you’re not talking to anyone, you’re already a social outcast. In my mind the risk of saying something wrong is much less than the risk of being omitted through inaction.